Conveyer.



No. 723,971. l PATENT'BD MAR. 31, 1903.v

A. M. AGKLIN.

CONVEYER.

APPLIUATION FILED NOV. 121901..

H0 MODEL.

UNITEDv STATES,

PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED M. ACKLIN, OF PITTSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 723,971, dated March 31p, 1903.

Q Application ilerd November 1,27, 19,91.- Serial No. 81,973. (No model.)

To a/ZZ whom, it Worry concern:

Be it known that I, ALFRED M. AcKLIN, a resident of Pittsburg, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented anew and useful Improvement in Conveyers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to conveyers, and has special reference to conveyers for conveying sand and other gritty material. Heretofor'e in the use of this class of conveyers the chain or rope was usually placed so that the working and return strands were on a vertical".

plane or level with each other,'so that great diiiculty was experienced in the cutting or wearing out of the parts of the chain by the material dropping from the upper or return strand down onto the lower or workingstrand of the chain.

The object of my invention is to overcome these objections and to provide a cheap and simple conveyer which -will receive and con.- vey the material therein without such.- material coming in contact with the operating or working parts of the conveyer, and furth'er, to provide a conveyer which will overcome the possibility of the material dropping from the return-strand onto. the working strand of the chain.

My invention consists, generally stated, in the novel arrangement, construction, and

combination of parts,.as hereinafter more specifically set forth anddescribed, and particularly pointed out-in the claims.

To enable others skilled in the art to which my invention appertainsto construct and use my improved conveyer, I will describe the same more fully, referring to the accompanying drawings, in which* Figure 1 is a top or plan view of my improved conveyer. Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of a portion of the same and-trough.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged cross-section of the con,l

veyer and trough. Fig. 4 is a sectionof the hopper, showing the preferred manner of supplying the material to theconveyer; and Figs. 5, 6, and 7 are viewsshowing other means of supplying the material to the conveyor.

Like symbols of reference herein indicate like parts in each of the iigures of the drawings.,

My improved conveyor is shown at land is composed of the endless chain 2, which passes around the wheels 3, mounted on the shafts 3', such chain being arranged so that the working portion or strand 2 and the return portion or strand 2l thereof are substantially on the samel horizontal level with.

supply of sand is fed' from the hopper 9,10-l

cated near the trough S. The trough S is located beneath the working strand 2 of said chain 2, and the flights 6 on said chain 2 eX- 'rend almost across to the sides 8 of the trough 8 and to within a short distance of the bottom 8 of said trough. p

The' chain .2 is supported on guideways or trahcks 10, extending around the course of the chain 2 and above the ight-6 and trough 8, vthese tracks being' so arranged as to provide an opening 11 between them for the passage of the plates 7, secured to the' flat bars 5 on the chain 2, which'plates 7 are provided at their upper ends 12' with rollers or wheels 12, which travel on the tracks 10 through the medium of their axles 13, which are mounted in the ends`12' of the plates 7. j

Preferably extending under the hopper 9 is the inclinedtrough 14,'within which is a ram 15, connected to and operated by any suitable means or -power to reciprocate the same, which ram 15 is provided with the inclined face 16 to force the sand from the hopper 9 intothe .trough S to becaughtby the iiights 6 on the chain 2.

The use and operation of my improved conveyer are as follows Power is applied in any suitable manner to one of the shafts 3/ for the wheels 3 to operatethe endless chain 2, which travels in the direction ofthe arrows, and the sand or othergritty material is placed by any suitable means within the hopper4 9, located near one end of the trough S. Asfthe material drops from the hopper 9 into the inclined trough 14 it will be caught by the end face 16 on the reciprocating ram 15 and be forced IOO thereby into the trough 8, Where it will be caught by the flights 6 ou the chain 2 in the trough 8 as such chain travels around the Wheels 3 and is supported by the rollers or wheels 12, traveling on the tracks 10. The flights 6 on said chain 2 will carry the material fed to said trough 8 by the rain 15 from the hopper 9 along and through said trough in the direction of the arrow until said material reaches the opposite end of said trough 8 from the hopper 9 or any discharge-openings therein, at which point or points it is discharged upon the floor or ground or into any lsuitable receptacle, as desired.

In Fig. 5 is shown another manner of feeding the sand or other material to the trough S and flights 6 on the chain 2, wherein the trough 14 is formed on a horizontal plane instead of on an incline,in which casethe trough is provided with an inclined portion 14,leading to the bottom 8of the trough 8 from said trough 1-1, and the ram 15 is adapted to be reciprocated horizontally to force the sand entering the trough from said hopper 9 up the inclined portion l-'L into the trough 8, Where it will be caught and carried by the flights 6 on the chain 2.

In Fig. 6 another device is shown Which provides for feeding the sand to the trough 8 and iiights 6 of the chain 2 by means of areciprocating conveyer 17, substantially such as is shown in Letters Patent No. 605,621, granted to me on June 14, 1898, which conveyer is adapted to operate in connection with a suitable receptacle 18 for receiving the material and is formed of a reciprocating bar 19, having a series of hinged Iiights 2O .thereon for engaging with the material in the receptacle 18 to force the same therefrom into the trough 8 to be caught and carried by the fiights 6 on the chain 2.

In Fig. 7 is shown another manner of feeding the material to the trough 8, in which a spiral conveyor 21 is used in a receptacle for receiving the material which acts to force the sand from the receptacle to the trough 8, Where it is caught and carried by the nights 6.

The hereinbefore described devices for feeding the material to the trough and chain are preferably adapted for use in connection with foundry-sand, which generally sticks to the parts and is very often damp, in which case some of the iiights can be made larger and of hard metal, as shown in dotted lines, Fig. 3, or can be provided with the teeth or serrations 6', preferably on the bottom face 6" of said flights 6, as shown in said Fig. 3, which will act to cut or scrape the hard material accumulated on the sides 8 or bottom 8", to carry it along and so prevent the clogging of the chain or any interference with the operation thereof.

In case dry sand is used with the conveyor 1 it can be fed directly into the trough 8 by an ordinary chute 22, extending above the trough and to one side of the chain 2, as such sand flows freely and can be fed through a narrow opening or space.

It will be obvious that a Wire rope can be used in place of the chain, and that the return-strand can be provided with a trough in cases Where dribbling of the material would be objectionable, and that various other modications in the construction and operation of the various parts of my improved conveyer may be resorted to without departingfroin the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of its advantages.

It will thus be seen that myimproved conveyer is positive and eective in its construction and operation and can be used for conveying different kinds of materials. In its operation various means can be used for feeding the material to the conveyer, while in cases of having to use wide -troughs and flights thetracks for the rollers supporting the chain can be extended out over the trough, as Well as the axles for the rollers, in order to give proper rigidity to the chain in its operation. The conveyer will allow the introduction of Vthe material to the chain or rope in such a manner as to prevent the same from coming in contact with the parts of the chain or rope, and on account of the arrangement or position of the Working and return portions or strands of the chain the material Will be prevented from dropping on the Wearing parts of the chain or rope composing the conveyer and cutting or Wearing the same out, thereby saving costin the parts and hindrance in operations.

I am aware that chain and flight conveyors have been made in which the chain is located on the same level; but in such cases the flights have been supported by resting on the bottom of the conveyer-trough, which is an arrangement for coal or other material having little or no abrasive quality and is not practical for the handling of sand or other very abrasive material.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. A.conveyer, comprising a receptacle or IOO IIO

trough,an endless chain or rope having iights or members thereon for engaging with the material within the trough, said chain or rope being arranged upon a horizontal plane or level, guideways or tracks above said trough and above said chain or rope, and connections between said tracks and flights or members to support the said iiights or members above said trough.

2. A conveyer, comprising a receptacle or trough, an endless chain or rope having flights or members thereon for engaging the material within the trough, said chain or rope being arranged upon a horizontal plane or level, guideways or tracks above said trough and above said chain or rope, and rollers or wheels connected to said chain or rope and adapted to travel upon said tracks for supporting said Iiights or members above the trough.

3. A conveyer, comprising a receptacle or trough, an endless chain or rope having flights or members thereon for engaging with the material within the trough, said chain or rope being arranged upon a horizontal plane or level, guideways or tracks above said trough, plates connected to said chain or rope and extending up between said tracks, and rollers or wheels mounted on axles mounted onl said plates and adapted to travel upon said tracks for supporting said flights or members above the trough.

4. A conveyer, comprising a receptacle or trough, an endless chain or rope having flights or members thereon for engaging with the material within the trough, anda ram adapted to feed and force the material to said trough.

5. A conveyer, comprising a receptacle or trough, an endless chain or rope having flights or members thereon for engaging with the material Within the trough, a box or receptacle connected to said trough to receive the material, and a ram Within said box or receptacle adapted to feed and force the material to said trough.

6. A conveyer, comprising a receptacle or trough, an endless chain orrope having flights or mem bers thereon for engaging with the ma terial Within the trough, a hopper, a box or In testimony whereof I,l the said ALFRED M. ACKLIN, have hereunto set my hand.

ALFRED M. ACKLIN. Witnesses:

J. N. COOKE, J. L. TREFALLER, J r. 

